Miles taps his feet impatiently as he scans over the snacks displayed on the supermarket shelf. It has been almost half an hour since he left Jayla at the clinic.
He snatches a Lays from the shelf and throws it into the basket he is holding.
''Mister?''
He looks around to find the source of the voice.
''Down here, mister.''
He looks down to find a cute little toddler with pigtails tugging at the tail of his jacket. He stoops down to be on a level with the little girl.
''Where are your parents?'' She looks at him with her big brown eyes and then stuck her finger in her mouth. He looks around for any sign of the little girl's parents; the aisle is clear. He holds her tiny wrist and removes her hand from her mouth.
''Mommy wants help with the shelf mister.''
''She does? Where is mommy?''
The little girl starts to skip to another aisle as Miles follows her. The girl starts to giggle as she picks up her pace.
''Hey! Wait up!''
The girl is busy running and watching Miles chasing her she didn't see the tall man in a long black coat and a hat covering his face in her wat. She bumps right into his foot and fell right on her bottom. Miles quickly rushes to pull her up. He didn't spare a glance at the man who is secretly staring at him with a small smile.
''Your kid?'' The stranger asks as he pulls the hat lower onto his face.
Miles scoffs, ''Does she look anything like me? Hey, don't run off like that again!''
The girl is no longer smiling; she looks up at Miles with a pout and wraps her tiny hand around his finger.
''Mommy is near here!''
The stranger opens his mouth to say something, but the little girl has already started to pull him away. He watches them both turn onto the nest aisle, then he whispers into his watch.
''He is at a supermarket. You should start the mission now. Remember I have a degree in marketing at a black market, so don't mess with me.''
''Okay, boss.''
*
''Tan! if you run off like that again, I swear!''
Miles looks at the chaos in front of him. Tan is now pulling at her younger sister's hair while her mom scolds her. The baby in her mother's hand is crying. A set of twins are in a cart fighting over a box of cereals.
''Uh, excuse me, how may I help?''
The woman finally looks up at him, her hair is wild and pulled up in a floppy ponytail, her eyes are red with dark bags underneath. She pulls at her hair with her left hand, causing the baby to tilt in her hand.
''Who are you?''
''Your daughter,'' he points at Tan, ''asked me to help you out.''
''Oh, I just want that pack of diapers there,'' she points at the pack of the diaper on the shelf that is far beyond her reach, Miles casually reaches for the diapers with his long arms and put it between the fighting twins, they both start to stare at him with identical faces, he shivers.
''Thank you so much,'' she offers him a small smile. He walks, he turns back to look at them, they all awkwardly wave at him.
He pays for the items he bought and starts back his journey to the clinic. He starts to run over the event of the day, the day that feels like a week. Deciding that it is better to think in a warmer place, he starts to sing softly to himself as he kicks a few pebbles on the pavement.
His phone in his pocket starts to vibrate. Ge doesn't recognize the number, so he stops to answer it.
''Speak.''
''How rude, where are you?'' It is Jayla.
''I'm on my way back.''
''Please hurry, outside is cold,'' she whines
''I can see the car from here. Did you get anything?'' He starts to walk again.
''I don't know, I recorded the conversation, she cried 90 percent of the time... I'm so tired! She left a few moments ago. Please hurry and get your-''
He hangs up the call and pushes the phone into his pocket. He pulls out the keys as the bright lights from the clinic start to come in view.
''Oh, thank G-god y-you are here. I am f-freezing!''
Jayla rushes to the car as Miles opens it. She slides into the passenger seat and quickly slams the door. Miles squeezes his eyes shut after she slams his car door. He enters the car and throws the bag of snacks on her lap. She looks at him in uncertainty.
''What is this a bomb?'' She grins at him.
''You said you are hungry and there was a supermarket-''
He didn't even get to finish his statement when she throws herself at him and give him a quick hug, Miles tenses. She didn't realize she is busy digging through the bag.
''Potato chips, donut, Arizona, Noodles, coffee, and a pack of gum... are you feeding a 12-year-old?.'' she looks at him with a shocked face. She pulls the pack of potato chips and starts to stuff her face. '' Anyways, thank you.''
Miles starts to drive out of the clinic's parking lot. He glances at her then presses down on the brakes causing her to choke.
''What do you think you are doing?'' He eyes the bag of chips in her hands.
''You almost killed me! I'm eating!'' she stuffs some more chips in her mouth, a few crumbs to fall on her lap.
He lets out a humorless laugh, ''In my car?''
''In your vehicle.'' She looks at him as she turns the bag upside down so that the remaining crumbs fall into her mouth. Miles left eye twitches.
She looks at him innocently, ''you are the one who gave me the chips,'' she fakes a British accent, ''aren't you not?"
With an annoyed expression, he presses down on the gas pedal and ignores the sounds of plastic bags being open.
''And you say I am a prick.''
''What am I supposed to do with the coffee and noodles?''
Her eyes widen as she remembers the audio, ''Oh! I'll play the recording,'' she pulls out her phone and puts it on the dashboard as the recording starts to play.
''Sophia, I need you to stop crying for a minute, okay? I know this must be hard. We need your co-operation.''
''d-does he knows?''
''Who?''
''BBBryan... her father, my only child is dead!''
Miles wince at the loud crying noise that emits from the phone. After a few minutes, the crying stops.
''When last did you saw Sasha?''
''This morning, she wanted to practice, I couldn't say yes, I told her no, I, she loves baseball too much and doesn't spend as much time with her homework, and her grades have been falling. Bryan always says yes to her, but I am, h-her mother. I can't.''
''It's okay, deep breaths Mrs. Royce.''
''I told her n-no she just wanted to play baseball and I didn't, I said no, she was angry but I l-left now she is dead, and she is gone forever?''
''What time did you leave?''
''Around 7, I don't remember, my work starts at 8 am and I-I, my baby is dead!''
The recording cuts off.
Miles sub-consciously runs his hands over the clinic's flyer in his pocket.
''One last stop.''